Won in One 2018: where ideas shone bright

HemoCycle was awarded first-place by the judges and was selected for the People’s Choice. The team, from left to right: Steven Pirvu, Caitlin Snell, Joshua Jacobs and Ryan Botts.

Despite postponement due to winter weather conditions, a crowd of approximately 60 spectators and 15 competitors gathered on Jan. 25 at the Rawle Enterprise Center for Won in One 2018.

The attendants experienced an evening of innovative ideas presented in a one-minute elevator pitch format. Each contestant had a mere 60 seconds to introduce the audience to their idea and to persuade the spectators to help them with feedback and/or funding.

After the presentations, the judges deliberated, as did the audience. Votes were counted, and results were announced at the culmination of the event.

The winner of both the People’s Choice category and the judge’s first-place pick was Hemocycle, presented by Caitlin Snell. In second place as determined by the judges was LifeDrop, a device presented by Kayla Farrar. The device aims to provide low-cost, easy-to-operate water quality testing for those in developing nations and affected by natural disasters. Third place went to TTC Smart Concrete, a green construction material proposed by Mohammadamin Azimi. In the student category, the audience selected Garrett Allen for the Checkplate concept, which detailed a vacuum fixture that could reduce setup time for machining processes.

Congratulations to the winners, and a round of applause to all of the participants. Honing an elevator pitch is an essential step in business development, and practice will make perfect!